In Sunrise, the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in a 3-0 shutout of the Panthers on Friday.
The game marked the return of Jets coach Rick Bowness to the Jets bench.
“Loved it,” Bowness said when asked what it felt like to be back behind the bench. “Comfortable.”
The Jets improved to 12-5-2, and went 9-2-2 without Bowness behind the bench.
“It was awesome just having him around,” Hellebuyck said. “His energy lifts the team. I am happy to have him around and happy his family is doing good.”
Nino Niederreiter scored in the first period to stake the Jets to a 1-0 lead at 17:43.
“We made a great face-off play, [I] knew the puck was going to the net,” Niederreiter said. “I saw it hit something and I went right over and was hoping the puck would come to my side so I could put it home.”
The Panthers dropped to 12-7-1.
After a scoreless middle frame, Nikolaj Ehlers scored at 11:14.
“Filthy. Beautiful hands, beautiful feet,” Hellebuyck said of Ehlers’ goal. “What more can you say about the guy? He is just filthy all around.”
Adam Lowry scored a shorthanded goal into an empty net for the 3-0 final at 16:10.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in the loss.
“We were not at our best from the start,” the Panthers’ Alexander Barkov said. “Obviously [we] tried to do everything we could, but they played really well defensively. Their goalie was really good. I don’t think we had enough guys at the net for rebounds. It was a tight game the whole game.”
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